Techniques for input of a multi-character compound consonant or vowel and transliteration to another language using a touch computing device

ABSTRACT

A technique is presented for fast input of multi-character compound consonants and vowels on a touch computing device. The technique provides for fast input of multi-character compound consonants and vowels by enabling a user to touch an initial character on a first layout of characters, then slide his/her finger in different directions and/or different distances according to a second layout of characters. The second layout of characters can be based on the first touched character and therefore can have a limited set of characters, e.g., fewer characters in comparison to the first layout of characters. A syllable formed after input of both a consonant and a vowel, represented as one character set, e.g., in the Roman alphabet, can then be transliterated into another language, e.g., Chinese.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2011/083836 filed on Dec. 12, 2011. The entire disclosure of theabove application is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to touch computing devices and, moreparticularly, to techniques for input of multi-character compoundconsonant or vowel and transliteration to another language using a touchcomputing device.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description that may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentdisclosure.

“Touch computing devices” include computing devices that receive tactileinput from a user. For example, touch computing devices may includemobile phones, tablet computers, portable media players, electronicreaders, and the like. Typically, the user may input information to atouch computing device via a touchpad or touch screen (hereinafterreferred to as a “touch display”). For example, the touch display may bea capacitive sensing display. The touch display may both displayinformation to the user and receive input from the user. The user maytypically input information to the touch computing device by typingusing a provided layout of characters. For example, the provided layoutof characters may be a form of a standard QWERTY keyboard.

SUMMARY

A computer-implemented technique is presented. The technique includesproviding, via a touch display of a touch computing device, a firstlayout of English characters. The technique also includes receiving, viathe touch display of the touch computing device, spot input from a userof the touch computing device, the spot input indicating selection of avowel from the first layout of English characters. The technique alsoincludes providing, via the touch display of the touch computing device,a second layout of English characters based on the spot input, thesecond layout of English characters being centered about the selectedvowel and including a plurality of characters based on and including theselected vowel, the second layout of English characters being differentthan the first layout of English characters. The technique also includesreceiving, via the touch display of the touch computing device, slideinput from the user from the selected vowel to a selected character ofthe second layout of English characters. The technique also includesdetermining, at the touch computing device, a string of Englishcharacters based on the selected vowel, the selected character, and thesecond layout of English characters, the string of English charactersselectively including one or more other English characters of the secondlayout of English characters along a path of the slide input, the stringof English characters representing a vowel of a Chinese character. Thetechnique also includes generating, at the touch computing device, aChinese character based on the string of characters. The techniquefurther includes displaying, via the touch display of the touchcomputing device, the Chinese character.

Another computer-implemented technique is also presented. The techniqueincludes providing, via a touch display of a touch computing device, afirst layout of characters in a first language. The technique alsoincludes receiving, via the touch display of the touch computing device,spot input from a user, the spot input indicating a selection of a firstcharacter from the first layout of characters. The technique alsoincludes providing, via the touch display of the touch computing device,a second layout of characters in the first language, the second layoutof characters being based on the selected first character, the secondlayout of characters being different than the first layout ofcharacters. The technique also includes receiving, via the touch displayof the touch computing device, slide input from the user from theselected first character to a selected second character from the secondlayout of characters. The technique also includes determining, at thetouch computing device, a string of characters based on the selectedfirst and second characters and the second layout of characters, thestring of characters representing a syllable in a second language, thesecond language being different than the first language. The techniquefurther includes displaying, via the touch display of the touchcomputing device, the string of characters.

A system is also presented. The system includes a user interface moduleconfigured to provide, via a touch display of a touch computing device,a first layout of characters in a first language. The user interfacemodule is further configured to provide, via the touch display of thetouch computing device, a second layout of characters in the firstlanguage, the second layout of characters being based on a selectedfirst character, the second layout of characters being different thanthe first layout of characters. The user interface module is furtherconfigured to receive, via the touch display of the touch computingdevice, spot input from a user, the spot input indicating the selectedfirst character, the selected first character being from the firstlayout of characters. The user interface module is further configured toreceive, via the touch display of the touch computing device, slideinput from the user from the selected first character to a selectedsecond character from the second layout of characters. The userinterface module is further configured to determine, at the touchcomputing device, a string of characters based on the selected first andsecond characters and the second layout of characters, the string ofcharacters representing a syllable in a second language, the secondlanguage being different than the first language. The user interfacemodule is further configured to display, via the touch display of thetouch computing device, the string of characters.

Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will becomeapparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It shouldbe understood that the detailed description and specific examples areintended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limitthe scope of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will become more fully understood from thedetailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a touch computing device according tosome implementations of the present disclosure;

FIG. 1B illustrates an example of a spot input by a user to the touchcomputing device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 1C illustrates an example of a slide input by the user to the touchcomputing device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an example of the touchcomputing device of FIGS. 1A-1C according to some implementations of thepresent disclosure;

FIGS. 3A-3H illustrate examples of various character inputconfigurations for slide input of multi-character compound vowels andconsonants for transliteration to a Chinese character according to someimplementations of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a standard 12-key telephone layout forslide input of a multi-character compound consonant or vowel accordingto some implementations of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example technique for slide input of amulti-character compound vowel and translating the multi-charactercompound vowel to a Chinese character according to some implementationsof the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of another example technique for slide input ofa multi-character compound consonant or vowel for transliteration toanother language according to some implementations of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIG. 1A, an example of a touch computing device 100 isshown. The touch computing device 100 may be a mobile phone, a tabletcomputer, or the like. The touch computing device 100 generally includesa touch display 104. The touch display 104 can displays informationand/or receive input from a user 108. For example only, the touchdisplay 104 may be a capacitive sensing display. As shown, the user 108may typically input information to the touch computing device 100 viathe touch display 104 using one or more fingers 112. The user 108 mayalso use other objects such as a stylus, a pen, or the like.

Input techniques to the touch computing device 100 include “spot input”and “slide input.” FIG. 1B illustrates spot input to the touch computingdevice 100. Spot input generally includes selection of a single spot 116on the touch display 104 by the user 108. For example, as shown in FIG.1B, the user 108 may perform spot input to select the character “g” on adisplayed keyboard. FIG. 1C illustrates slide input to the touchcomputing device 100. Slide input generally includes a sliding motion120 across the touch display 104 by the user 108. For example, the user108 may perform slide input to move an object currently being displayedby the touch display 104, such as an image, a webpage, or the like.

As previously described, touch computing devices are widely availableand thus may be used in many different countries throughout the world.Therefore, touch computing devices may be configured to displayinformation to and/or receive information from the user 108 in a varietyof different languages. Input method editors, or IMEs, are softwareapplications that allow a user to input different languages to a touchcomputing device. Many languages are based on the Latin alphabet, e.g.,English, Spanish, and French. There are many other languages, however,that are based on other characters or symbols. These languages may becharacterized as syllabogram-based and logogram-based languages.

One widely used logogram-based language is Chinese. Chinese scriptincludes thousands of unique characters. Pinyin is the official Englishalphabet-based transliteration of Chinese. Transliteration refers to theprocess of converting one script to another, e.g., English to Chinese.In other words, Pinyin refers to a system for English alphabet-basedphonetic representations of Chinese characters. For example only, “zaijian” is the Pinyin representation of “

” or “

”, which means “goodbye” and “under construction” in English,respectively. Therefore, one IME for touch computing devices may be aPinyin-based IME for providing input of Chinese characters for textmessaging, e-mailing, and the like.

The pronunciation of most Chinese characters can be expressed in twoparts: a consonant and a vowel. The consonants for Chinese include 20consonants of the English alphabet (except for “v”) plus threeadditional multi-character compound consonants: ch, sh, and zh (23total). A list of the various Chinese (Pinyin) consonants is providedbelow:

b, c, ch, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, sh, t w, x, y, z, andzh.

The vowels for Chinese include, in addition to the five vowels of theEnglish alphabet, “ü” (which is input as “v”) and 27 othermulti-character compound vowels (33 total), e.g., ang, en, uang. Tablesof the various Chinese (Pinyin) vowels are shown below:

a e i o u ü (input by ai ei ia ong ua typing v) an en ian ou uai (üan,üe, ang eng iang uan and ün can ao er iao uang be combined ie ue withuan, ue, in ui and un) ing un iong uo iu 5 total 5 total 10 total 3total 9 total 1 total

The possible combinations of consonants and vowels for Chinese aregreater than 400. As can be appreciated, having to input individualEnglish alphabet-based characters to input each Chinese character, e.g.,the multi-character compound vowel “uang”, can be time consuming. Forexample only, one of the longest Pinyin representations is “shuang”,which includes the consonant “sh” followed by the multi-charactercompound vowel “uang” and thus requires six different Englishalphabet-based characters. In sum, traditional Pinyin-based IMEs mayrequire more user time and effort than desired.

Accordingly, techniques are presented for slide input of amulti-character compound consonant or vowel for transliteration toanother language. While the techniques described in detail herein aregenerally directed to English (Pinyin) input and transliteration toChinese, the techniques may also be applied to other languages such as,for example only, Japanese or Korean. The techniques presented providefor faster and easier input of multi-character compound consonants andvowels to a touch computing device. Using the techniques presented forEnglish (Pinyin) input and transliteration to Chinese, most Chinesemulti-character compound consonants and vowels may be input using twospot inputs (“clicks”) or less, e.g., a consonant plus a vowel,notwithstanding the potential slide input after one or both of thevarious clicks.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a functional block diagram of the touchcomputing device 100 is illustrated. As previously described, the touchcomputing device 100 includes the touch display 104, such as acapacitive sensing display. The touch display 104 displays informationto the user 108 and/or receives information input by the user 108. Thetouch computing device 100, however, can further include a userinterface module 200, a transliteration module 204, a language datastore208, and a communication module 212. It should be appreciated that thetouch computing device 100 may include additional computing componentssuch as memory and the like.

The user interface module 200 controls communication with the user 108via the touch display 104 of the touch computing device 100. The userinterface module 200 may provide the user 108 with various differentcharacter input configurations via the touch display 104 of the touchcomputing device 100. For example, the user interface module 200 mayprovide the user 108 with a form of the standard QWERTY keyboard via thetouch display 104 of the touch computing device 100. Alternatively, forexample, the user interface module 200 may provide the user 108 with astandard 12-key configuration, also known as a telephone layoutconfiguration. The user interface module 200 may also receive input fromthe user 108, e.g., via the provided character input configuration.

The transliteration module 204 receives the input from the user 108 asinterpreted by the user interface module 200. The user interface module200 and the transliteration module 204 can collectively execute variousIMEs, e.g., an English (Pinyin) to Chinese IME, thereby enabling theuser 108 to input characters in different languages. The transliterationmodule 204, therefore, may also convert the input received from the user108 to a desired language, e.g., Chinese. For example, thetransliteration module 204 may use the language datastore 208 whentransliterating the user input to the desired language (described indetail later). The transliteration module 204 can communicate with theuser interface module 200 in order for the user interface module 200 toprovide the various character input configurations to the user.

The communication module 208 controls communication between the touchcomputing device 100 and other devices. For example only, thecommunication module 208 may provide for communication between the touchcomputing device 100 and other users associated with the user 108 viathe Internet. The touch computing device 100 may communicate via: acomputing network 250, a mobile telephone network 254, and/or asatellite network 258. Other communication mediums may also beimplemented. For example, the communication module 208 may configuredfor both wired and wireless network connections, e.g., radio frequency(RF) communication.

As previously mentioned, the user interface module 200 can providevarious character input configurations (“character layouts”) to the user108 via the touch display 104 of the touch computing device 100. Forexample, the character layouts may include a standard QWERTY keyboard, astandard 12-key telephone layout configuration, and the like. The userinterface module 200 may also provide alternative character layoutsaccording to the present disclosure for purposes of inputtingmulti-character compound consonants and vowels (described and shown inmore detail later). For example, the user interface module 200 may firstprovide the user 108 with a standard QWERTY keyboard having Englishcharacters and, after a spot input by the user of a selected character,the user interface module 200 may provide a second configuration ofEnglish characters corresponding to possible multi-character compoundconsonants and vowels beginning with the selected character.

The user interface module 200 can also determine a desired input by theuser 108. More specifically, the user interface module 200 can determinea string of characters input by the user 108 based on both spot input bythe user 108 and slide input by the user 108. The spot input by the user108 indicates a first selected character from a first character layoutprovided to the user 108. The slide input by the user 108 is from thefirst selected character to a second selected character from a secondcharacter layout provided to the user 108. In addition, depending on thecharacter layout provided to the user 108 and a path of the slide inputby the user 108, the string of characters may further include charactersof the second character layout along the path of the slide input betweenthe first and second selected characters.

As previously mentioned, the transliteration module 204 communicateswith the language datastore 208 in order to convert the input receivedvia the user interface module 200. Conversion from the string of Englishcharacters (Pinyin) to a Chinese character (or a list of Chinesecharacters) may also be referred to as transliteration. Thetransliteration module 204 may convert the input from the user 108,e.g., the string of characters, to a desired language. For example, thedesired language may be set by the user 108 and/or may be a parameter ofan IME that is currently being used. As previously described, the stringof characters may represent a transliteration of a desired language,e.g., English characters (Pinyin) and Chinese being the desiredlanguage. The transliteration module 204 may use data stored in thelanguage datastore 208 to perform the transliteration. Aftertransliteration is complete, the transliteration module 204 may thenprovide the one or more transliterated characters, e.g., Chinesecharacters, to the user interface module 200. The user interface module200 can then display the one or more transliterated characters to theuser 108 via the touch display 104 of the touch computing device 100.

The language datastore 208 stores data corresponding to variousdifferent languages such as, for example only, English, Chinese,Spanish, French, Japanese, and Korean. The stored data may includelexicons for the various languages, rules for the various languages,rules for converting between the various languages, and the like. Forexample, the language datastore 208 may be memory, e.g., non-volatilememory, located within the touch computing device 100. Additionally oralternatively, all or part of the language datastore 208 may be locatedremotely, e.g., in the cloud, and thus may be accessed via thecommunication module 212. In addition, the communication module 212 mayprovide for periodic updating of all or part of the stored data that isstored locally, e.g., in the language datastore 208.

Referring now to FIGS. 3A-3E, examples of various character layouts forslide input of a multi-character compound vowel for transliteration to aChinese character are shown. Each of these character layouts may bedisplayed to and interacted with by the user 108 via the touch display104 of the touch computing device 100. While specific character layoutsare shown for inputting each simple or multi-character compound vowelvia a spot input or a spot input followed by a slide input, othercharacter layouts may be used. For example, the character layouts may beoptimized based on statistics of vowel appearances throughout theChinese/Pinyin lexicon. In other words, slide input paths correspondingto the most frequently used vowels may be the shortest paths.Additionally or alternatively, for example, the configurations may beoptimized based on statistics of users 108, e.g., optimized forright-handed or left-handed users.

Referring now to FIG. 3A, an example character layout 300 for slideinput of vowels beginning with the English alphabet letter a is shown.As previously described, the possible vowels beginning with the letter ain Chinese include the simple vowel a in addition to the multi-charactercompound vowels ai, an, ang, and ao. The user 108 may input the simplevowel a via a spot input at the letter a. The letters i, n, and o arelocated above, to the right of, and below the letter a, respectively.The user 108 may input the multi-character compound vowels ai, an, or aovia a spot input at the letter a followed by a slide input up, right, ordown, respectively. The letter g is located to the right of the letter nbecause of the multi-character compound vowel ang (but the lack of amulti-character compound vowel “ag”). The user 108 may input themulti-character compound vowel ang via a spot input at the letter afollowed by a slide input to the right, the slide input being longer orfurther than the right slide input for the letter n.

Referring now to FIG. 3B, an example character layout 320 for slideinput of vowels beginning with the English alphabet letter e is shown.As previously described, the possible vowels beginning with the letter ein Chinese include the simple vowel e in addition to the multi-charactercompound vowels ei, en, eng, and er. The user 108 may input the simplevowel e via a spot input at the letter e. The letters i, n, and r arelocated to the left of, to the right of, and below the letter e,respectively. The user 108 may input the multi-character compound vowelsei, en, or er via a spot input at the letter e followed by a slide inputleft, right, or down, respectively. The letter g is located to the rightof the letter n because of the multi-character compound vowel eng (butthe lack of a multi-character compound vowel “eg”). The user 108 mayinput the multi-character compound vowel eng via a spot input at theletter e followed by a slide input to the right, the slide input beinglonger or further than the right slide input for the letter n.

Referring now to FIG. 3C, an example character layout 340 for slideinput of vowels beginning with the English alphabet letter i is shown.As previously described, the possible vowels beginning with the letter iin Chinese include the simple vowel i in addition to the multi-charactercompound vowels ia, ian, iang, iao, ie, in, ing, long, and iu. The user108 may input the simple vowel i via a spot input at the letter i. Theletters a, u, and a first letter n are located to the left of, below,and to the right of the letter i, respectively. The user 108 may inputthe multi-character compound vowels ia, iu, or in via a spot input atthe letter i followed by a slide input left, down, or right,respectively.

A second letter n is located left of the letter a. A letter o is locatedbelow the letter a. The user 108 may input the multi-character compoundvowels ian or iao via a spot input at the letter i followed by a slideinput left (longer or further than the left slide input for the lettera) or a slide input left and then down, respectively. For example only,the multi-character compound vowel iao (and/or the multi-charactercompound vowel long, described in detail below) could be input bysliding from the letter i diagonally down and to the left. A firstletter g is located left of the second letter n. The user 108 may inputthe multi-character compound vowel iang via spot input at the letter ifollowed by a slide input left, the slide input being longer or furtherthan the left slide input for the second letter n.

A second letter g is located right of the first letter n. Letters ongare located below the first letter n. The user 108 may input themulti-character compound vowels ing or long via a spot input at theletter i followed by a slide input right (longer or further than theright slide input for the first letter n) or a slide input diagonallydown and to the right, respectively. For example only, the letters ongmay be located at this diagonal location because the multi-charactercompound vowel long is used less frequently than the other vowelsbeginning with the letter i. Additionally or alternatively, for exampleonly, the letters ong may be located at this diagonal direction to keepa consistent layout amount ang, eng, and ing.

Lastly, the letter e is located below the letter u. The user 108 mayinput the multi-character compound vowel ie via a spot input at theletter i followed by a slide input down, the slide input being longer orfurther than the down slide motion for the letter u. For example, theslide input path of the user 108 may curve around the letter u. In somecases, the letter u, located along the slide input path, could bediscarded because the multi-character compound vowel “iue” does notexist. For example only, the letter e may be located far away from theletter i because the multi-character compound vowel ie is used lessfrequently than the other vowels beginning with the letter i.Additionally or alternatively, for example only, another layout couldposition the letter e directly above the letter i.

Referring now to FIG. 3D, an example character layout 360 for slideinput of vowels beginning with the English alphabet letter o is shown.As previously described, the possible vowels beginning with the letter oin Chinese include the simple vowel o in addition to the multi-charactercompound vowels ou and ong. The user 108 may input the simple vowel ovia a spot input at the letter o. The letters u and ng are located tothe left of and below the letter o, respectively. The user 108 may inputthe multi-character compound vowels ou or ong via a spot input at theletter o followed by a slide input left or down, respectively.

Referring now to FIG. 3E, an example character layout 380 for slideinput of vowels beginning with the English alphabet letter u is shown.As previously described, the possible vowels beginning with the letter uinclude the simple vowel u in addition to the multi-character compoundvowels ua, uai, uan, uang, ue, ui, un, and uo. The user 108 may inputthe simple vowel u via a spot input at the letter u. The letters a, o,and a first letter n are located to the left of, below, and to the rightof the letter u, respectively. The user 108 may input themulti-character compound vowels ua, uo, or un via a spot input at theletter i followed by a slide input left, down, or right, respectively.

A second letter n is located left of the letter a. The user 108 mayinput the multi-character compound vowel uan via a spot input at theletter u followed by a slide input left, the slide input being longer orfurther than the left slide input for the letter a. A letter e/i islocated below the letter a. The user 108 may input the multi-charactercompound vowels ue or ui via a spot input at the letter u followed by aslide input diagonally left and down. The letters e and i share the samelocation because there are no overlapping pronunciations of ui and ue,e.g., jue, lue, nue, que, xue, yue; chui, cui, dui, gui, hui, kui, rui,shui, sui, ui, zhui, zui.

The letter g is located left of the second letter n. The user 108 mayinput the multi-character compound vowel uang via spot input at theletter u followed by a slide input left, the slide input being longer orfurther than the left slide input for the second letter n. Lastly, theletter i is located below the letter second letter n. The user 108 mayinput the multi-character compound vowel uai via a spot input at theletter u followed by a slide input left, and then diagonally down and tothe left. In addition, the second letter n, located along the slideinput path, may be discarded because the multi-character compound vowel“uani” does not exist. Alternatively, the user 108 may input themulti-character compound vowel uai via a spot input at the letter ufollowed by a slide input diagonally down and to the left, the slideinput being further than the diagonally down and left input for theletter e/i. For example only, the letter i may be located far away fromthe letter u because the multi-character compound vowel uai is used lessfrequently than the other vowels beginning with the letter u.

Referring now to FIGS. 3F-3H, example character layouts 385, 390, and395 for slide input of consonants beginning with the English alphabetletters c, s, and z are shown, respectively.

Referring now to FIG. 3F, the example character layout 385 for slideinput of consonants beginning with the English alphabet letter c isshown. As previously described, the possible consonants beginning withthe letter c include the simple consonant c in addition to themulti-character compound consonant ch. The user 108 may input the simpleconsonant c via a spot input at the letter c. The letter h is located tothe right of the letter c. The user 108 may input the multi-charactercompound consonant ch via a spot input at the letter c followed by aslide input right.

Referring now to FIG. 3G, the example character layout 390 for slideinput of consonants beginning with the English alphabet letter s isshown. As previously described, the possible consonants beginning withthe letter s include the simple consonant s in addition to themulti-character compound consonant sh. The user 108 may input the simpleconsonant s via a spot input at the letter s. The letter h is located tothe right of the letter s. The user 108 may input the multi-charactercompound consonant sh via a spot input at the letter s followed by aslide input right.

Referring now to FIG. 3H, the example character layout 395 for slideinput of consonants beginning with the English alphabet letter z isshown. As previously described, the possible consonants beginning withthe letter z include the simple consonant z in addition to themulti-character compound consonant zh. The user 108 may input the simpleconsonant c via a spot input at the letter z. The letter h is located tothe right of the letter z. The user 108 may input the multi-charactercompound consonant zh via a spot input at the letter z followed by aslide input right.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an example character layout 400 for slide inputof multi-character compound consonants and vowels via a 12-key telephonelayout configuration is shown. This character layout 400 may bedisplayed to and interacted with by the user 108 via the touch display104 of the touch computing device 100. While the specific characterlayouts for vowels (shown in FIGS. 3A-3E and described above) may beimplemented for the character layout 400, some of those configurationsmay need to be changed, e.g., the user 108 cannot slide from key 4(vowel i) to the left in order to input multi-character compound voweliang. Therefore, some or all of the specific character layouts may bereconfigured for this character layout 400, which may includeoptimization based on lexicon statistics and/or user statistics aspreviously described.

Referring now to FIG. 5, another example of a technique 500 for slideinput of multi-character compound vowels of a Chinese syllable using thetouch computing device 100 begins at 504. At 504, the user interfacemodule 200 provides, via the touch display 104 of the touch computingdevice 100, a first layout of English characters. At 508, the userinterface module 200 receives, receiving, via the touch display 104 ofthe touch computing device 100, spot input from the user 108 of thetouch computing device 100, the spot input indicating selection of avowel from the first layout of English characters.

At 512, the user interface module 200 provides, via the touch display104 of the touch computing device 100, a second layout of Englishcharacters based on the spot input, the second layout of Englishcharacters being centered about the selected vowel and including aplurality of characters based on and including the selected vowel, thesecond layout of English characters being different than the firstlayout of English characters. At 516, the user interface module 200receives, via the touch display 104 of the touch computing device 100,slide input from the user 108 from the selected vowel to a selectedcharacter of the second layout of English characters.

At 520, the user interface module 200 determines, at the touch computingdevice 100, a string of English characters based on the selected vowel,the selected character, and the second layout of English characters, thestring of English characters selectively including one or more otherEnglish characters of the second layout of English characters associatedalong a path of the slide input, the string of characters representing avowel of a Chinese character. At 524, the transliteration module 204generates, at the touch computing device 100, a Chinese character basedon the string of characters. At 528, the user interface module 200displays, via the touch display 104 of the touch computing device 100,the Chinese character. The technique 500 may then end or return to 504for one or more additional cycles.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an example technique 600 for slide input of amulti-character compound consonant or vowel for transliteration toanother language using the touch computing device 100 begins at 604. At604, the user interface module 200 provides, via the touch display 104of the touch computing device 100, a first layout of characters in afirst language. At 608, the user interface module 200 receives, via thetouch display 104 of the touch computing device 100, spot input from theuser 108, the spot input indicating a selection of a first characterfrom the first layout of characters. At 612, the user interface module200 determines, at the touch computing device 100, whether the selectedcharacter is an initial character of a multi-character compoundconsonant or vowel, e.g., a, c, e, i, o, s, u, or z. If true, thetechnique 600 can proceed to 616. If false, the technique 600 canproceed to 628.

At 616, the user interface module 200 provides, via the touch display104 of the touch computing device 100, a second layout of characters inthe first language, the second layout of characters being based on theselected first character, the second layout of characters beingdifferent than the first layout of characters. At 620, the userinterface module 200 receives, via the touch display 104 of the touchcomputing device 100, slide input from the user 108 from the selectedfirst character to a selected second character from the second layout ofcharacters. At 624, the user interface module 200 determines, at thetouch computing device 100, a string of characters based on the firstand second selected characters and the second layout of characters, thestring of characters representing a syllable in a second language. At628, the user interface module 200 displays, via the touch display 104of the touch computing device 100, the selected character or the stringof characters (depending on the decision at 612). The technique 600 maythen end or return to 604 for one or more additional cycles.

Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will bethorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled inthe art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples ofspecific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will beapparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not beemployed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many differentforms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of thedisclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known procedures,well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are notdescribed in detail.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexample embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As usedherein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. The term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one ormore of the associated listed items. The terms “comprises,”“comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and thereforespecify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps,processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed asnecessarily requiring their performance in the particular orderdiscussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order ofperformance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternativesteps may be employed.

Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein todescribe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections,these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should notbe limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguishone element, component, region, layer or section from another region,layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numericalterms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearlyindicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region,layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element,component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachingsof the example embodiments.

As used herein, the term module may refer to, be part of, or include anApplication Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC); an electronic circuit; acombinational logic circuit; a field programmable gate array (FPGA); aprocessor (shared, dedicated, or group) that executes code, or a processexecuted by a distributed network of processors and storage in networkedclusters or datacenters; other suitable components that provide thedescribed functionality; or a combination of some or all of the above,such as in a system-on-chip. The term module may include memory (shared,dedicated, or group) that stores code executed by the one or moreprocessors.

The term code, as used above, may include software, firmware, byte-codeand/or microcode, and may refer to programs, routines, functions,classes, and/or objects. The term shared, as used above, means that someor all code from multiple modules may be executed using a single(shared) processor. In addition, some or all code from multiple modulesmay be stored by a single (shared) memory. The term group, as usedabove, means that some or all code from a single module may be executedusing a group of processors. In addition, some or all code from a singlemodule may be stored using a group of memories.

The techniques described herein may be implemented by one or morecomputer programs executed by one or more processors. The computerprograms include processor-executable instructions that are stored on anon-transitory tangible computer readable medium. The computer programsmay also include stored data. Non-limiting examples of thenon-transitory tangible computer readable medium are nonvolatile memory,magnetic storage, and optical storage.

Some portions of the above description present the techniques describedherein in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operationson information. These algorithmic descriptions and representations arethe means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to mosteffectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in theart. These operations, while described functionally or logically, areunderstood to be implemented by computer programs. Furthermore, it hasalso proven convenient at times to refer to these arrangements ofoperations as modules or by functional names, without loss ofgenerality.

Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the abovediscussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description,discussions utilizing terms such as “processing” or “computing” or“calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to theaction and processes of a computer system, or similar electroniccomputing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented asphysical (electronic) quantities within the computer system memories orregisters or other such information storage, transmission or displaydevices.

Certain aspects of the described techniques include process steps andinstructions described herein in the form of an algorithm. It should benoted that the described process steps and instructions could beembodied in software, firmware or hardware, and when embodied insoftware, could be downloaded to reside on and be operated fromdifferent platforms used by real time network operating systems.

The present disclosure also relates to an apparatus for performing theoperations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for therequired purposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose computerselectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored on acomputer readable medium that can be accessed by the computer. Such acomputer program may be stored in a tangible computer readable storagemedium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk includingfloppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic-optical disks, read-onlymemories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs,magnetic or optical cards, application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), or any type of media suitable for storing electronicinstructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore,the computers referred to in the specification may include a singleprocessor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designsfor increased computing capability.

The algorithms and operations presented herein are not inherentlyrelated to any particular computer or other apparatus. Variousgeneral-purpose systems may also be used with programs in accordancewith the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct morespecialized apparatuses to perform the required method steps. Therequired structure for a variety of these systems will be apparent tothose of skill in the art, along with equivalent variations. Inaddition, the present disclosure is not described with reference to anyparticular programming language. It is appreciated that a variety ofprogramming languages may be used to implement the teachings of thepresent disclosure as described herein, and any references to specificlanguages are provided for disclosure of enablement and best mode of thepresent invention.

The present disclosure is well suited to a wide variety of computernetwork systems over numerous topologies. Within this field, theconfiguration and management of large networks comprise storage devicesand computers that are communicatively coupled to dissimilar computersand storage devices over a network, such as the Internet.

The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided forpurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or featuresof a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particularembodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be usedin a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described.The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to beregarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modificationsare intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: providing, via a touchdisplay of a touch computing device, a first layout of Englishcharacters; receiving, via the touch display of the touch computingdevice, spot input from a user of the touch computing device, the spotinput indicating selection of a vowel from the first layout of Englishcharacters; providing, via the touch display of the touch computingdevice, a second layout of English characters based on the spot input,the second layout of English characters being centered about theselected vowel and including a plurality of characters based on andincluding the selected vowel, the second layout of English charactersbeing different than the first layout of English characters, the secondlayout of English characters being configured such that the user caninput a remainder of all possible syllables beginning with the selectedvowel using a single slide input; receiving, via the touch display ofthe touch computing device, slide input from the user from the selectedvowel to a selected character of the second layout of Englishcharacters; determining, at the touch computing device, a string ofEnglish characters based on the selected vowel, the selected character,and the second layout of English characters, the string of Englishcharacters including one or more other English characters of the secondlayout of English characters along a path of the slide input, the stringof English characters representing a vowel of a Chinese character;generating, at the touch computing device, a Chinese character based onthe string of characters; and displaying, via the touch display of thetouch computing device, the Chinese character.
 2. A computer-implementedmethod, comprising: providing, via a touch display of a touch computingdevice, a first layout of characters in a first language; receiving, viathe touch display of the touch computing device, spot input from a user,the spot input indicating a selection of a first character from thefirst layout of characters; providing, via the touch display of thetouch computing device, a second layout of characters in the firstlanguage, the second layout of characters being based on the selectedfirst character, the second layout of characters being different thanthe first layout of characters, the second layout of characters beingconfigured such that the user can input a remainder of all possiblesyllables beginning with the first character using a single slide input;receiving, via the touch display of the touch computing device, slideinput from the user from the selected first character to a selectedsecond character from the second layout of characters; determining, atthe touch computing device, a string of characters based on the selectedfirst and second characters and the second layout of characters, thestring of characters including one or more other characters of thesecond layout of characters along a path of the slide input; anddisplaying, via the touch display of the touch computing device, thestring of characters.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,further comprising transliterating the string of characters to a secondlanguage that is different than the first language and providing, viathe touch display of the touch computing device, one or moretransliterated characters to the user.
 4. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 3, wherein the first language is English, the first andsecond character layouts include English alphabet-based characters, andthe second language is Chinese.
 5. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 4, wherein the selected first character is a vowel.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the second layout ofcharacters is centered about the selected first character and aplurality of characters based on and including the selected firstcharacter.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein thesecond layout of characters includes potential characters used to form amulti-character compound vowel for a Chinese syllable, themulti-character compound vowel beginning with the selected firstcharacter.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein thesecond layout of characters is based on usage statistics of charactersin the Chinese language, wherein the usage statistics include usagerates of various characters in the Chinese language.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the second layout ofcharacters is optimized such that slide input paths for more frequentlyused Chinese characters are shorter or easier for the user to input. 10.The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the first layout ofcharacters is one of a form of a standard QWERTY keyboard configurationand a 12-key telephone layout configuration.
 11. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein providing the secondlayout of characters further includes providing the second layout ofcharacters in a pop-up window overlaying the first layout of characters.12. A system, comprising: a user interface module configured to provide,via a touch display of a touch computing device, a first layout ofcharacters in a first language, and provide, via the touch display ofthe touch computing device, a second layout of characters in the firstlanguage, the second layout of characters being based on a selectedfirst character, the second layout of characters being different thanthe first layout of characters, the second layout of characters beingconfigured such that the user can input a remainder of all possiblesyllables beginning with the selected first character using a singleslide input, receive, via the touch display of the touch computingdevice, spot input from a user, the spot input indicating the selectedfirst character, the selected first character being from the firstlayout of characters, receive, via the touch display of the touchcomputing device, slide input from the user from the selected firstcharacter to a selected second character from the second layout ofcharacters, determine, at the touch computing device, a string ofcharacters based on the selected first and second characters and thesecond layout of characters, the string of characters including one ormore other characters of the second layout of characters along a path ofthe slide input, and display, via the touch display of the touchcomputing device, the string of characters.
 13. The system of claim 12,further comprising a transliteration module configured to transliteratethe string of characters to a second language that is different than thefirst language and provide, via the touch display of the touch computingdevice, one or more transliterated characters to the user.
 14. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the first language is English, the first andsecond character layouts include English alphabet-based characters, andthe second language is Chinese.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein theselected first character is a vowel.
 16. The system of claim 15, whereinthe second layout of characters is centered about the selected firstcharacter and a plurality of characters based on and including theselected first character.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the secondlayout of characters includes potential characters used to form amulti-character compound vowel for a Chinese syllable, themulti-character compound vowel beginning with the selected firstcharacter.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the second layout ofcharacters is based on usage statistics of characters in the Chineselanguage, wherein the usage statistics include usage rates of variouscharacters in the Chinese language, and wherein the second layout ofcharacters is optimized such that slide input paths for more frequentlyused Chinese characters are shorter or easier for the user to input. 19.The system of claim 12, wherein the first layout of characters is one ofa form of a standard QWERTY keyboard configuration and a 12-keytelephone layout configuration.
 20. The system of claim 12, wherein theuser interface module is further configured to provide the second layoutof characters in a pop-up window overlaying the first layout ofcharacters.